The Ants 



three-eighths of an inch in depth. On the upper surface of the 

 plank, a short distance from the edge, he cuts a deep furrow. 

 This furrow is i^ept filled with water in order to prevent the 

 escape of the ants. The tin tray is placed on the plank, within 

 the furrow, the square pane of glass is laid in the tray, and along 

 the edges of the glass are laid four strips of wood about a half 

 an inch wide and a little thicker than the height of the ants to be 

 kept, then a layer of fine earth is placed in, and the pane of glass 

 of which one corner has been cut off is laid on the strips of wood, 

 and the whole is covered with something which will keep the 

 nest dark. 



The general features of the community life of ants of the 

 commoner genera may be briefly summarized as follows : A 

 community is supposed to be founded by a single queen which 

 lays white or yellowish, elongate eggs, which hatch in two 

 weeks or more. The larvae are white, legless, helpless creatures 

 which, in the beginning of the colony, are attended by the queen 

 and which develop into workers. As the community grows, 

 egg-laying is continuous, new queens are born and these pair 

 with the males and lay eggs, the workers, as soon as they begin 

 to make their appearance, taking care of the larvae, feeding them 

 and carrying them about from chamber to chamber in order to 

 secure the suitable warmth and moisture. In different parts of 

 the community will be found larvae of comparatively similar size, 

 the smallest ones in one place, larger ones in another, and still 

 larger in another. These larvae have to be fed for a month or 

 more, according to the species, and when full grown transform 

 to pupae, sometimes naked, sometimes covered with a silken 

 cocoon. The cocoon is usually white, and is also carried about 

 to suitable places by the workers. When an ant colony is dis- 

 turbed the workers are seen scurrying about, carrying these 

 cocoons, endeavoring to carry them to a place of safety, and the 

 common idea is that these cocoons are eggs, but they are a great 

 deal larger than eggs. In three to four weeks the pupae emerge, 

 and in emerging from the cocoons they are helped by the 

 workers, which are said to take the greatest care of them, 

 unfolding their legs and helping them expand their wings. 

 The males die very soon as a rule, but the females and the 

 workers are very long-lived. Lubbock kept two queens for 

 more than seven years, and certain workers more than six. 



44 



